


The Life We Choose

by castielcntrl



Category: 9-1-1 (TV), Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Awesome Henrietta "Hen" Wilson, Bobby Singer is Dean and Sam Winchester's Parent, Doctor Castiel, F/F, F/M, Family Fluff, Firefighter Dean Winchester, Firefighter Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Jack Kline and Claire Novak are Siblings, M/M, Married Life, Mechanic Bobby Singer, Parental Bobby Nash, Parental Bobby Singer, Professor Sam Winchester, Protective Athena Grant, References to Supernatural (TV), Surprise Party, Teacher Eileen Leahy, Worried Evan "Buck" Buckley, supernatural x 9-1-1
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:06:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29508054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/castielcntrl/pseuds/castielcntrl
Summary: Ain’t nothing like two boys from Kansas growing up to live out their lives in the big city of Las Angeles.
Relationships: Athena Grant/Bobby Nash, Castiel & Sam Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester, Donna Hanscum/Jody Mills, Eddie Diaz/Evan “Buck” Buckley, Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester, Henrietta "Hen" Wilson/Karen Wilson, Kaia Nieves/Claire Novak, Maddie Buckley/Howie "Chimney" Han
Comments: 4
Kudos: 43





	1. Meet The Winchesters

_6:30 A.M._

Dean lazily stretches out his arm to turn off his alarm clock, he sighs and turns his head over to see his boyfriend’s side already empty. He lets out an airy laugh, planting his arms into the mattress to lift himself off and head to the kitchen where he was already smelling the coffee.

Dean has been living in LA for nearly 3 years. Been a firefighter at the 118 for 2 — his first year he was in his probation period of his duties.

“Why can’t I just hang out with Aunt Kelly?” Jack whines as he shoves waffles into his mouth. Claire huffs and looks at her little brother.

Jack is 12 years old, barely getting the hang of middle school and often tutored by his surrogate mother — or “Aunt Kelly” after school lets out. Claire is 17, in high school, and trying to figure out what she’s going to do with her life afterwards.

“Aunt Kelly is just going to help you with your school work, Jack. It’s still sort of like hanging out, just with a little bit of brain.” The young boy groaned and rolled his eyes, carrying on to eat his breakfast. Dean finally entered the kitchen, red plaid shirt and dark blue jeans with his black combat boots. “Morning.” Cas smiles and hands Dean his cup of coffee.

Cas is Dean’s boyfriend. A doctor for 5 years, and annoyingly responsible with his work. So responsible that some nights Dean goes to bed alone, and wakes up alone.

“Good morning.” Dean returns the smile and leans in for a quick peck. “Mornin’ kiddos.” He rounds the kitchen island to kiss each of their heads. “How are things going with that Kaia girl, Claire?” Claire’s face immediately goes red as soon as the name falls from her father’s mouth.

“Um...good, I guess? We’re gonna hang out after school today.” Both Dean and Cas looked at each other with a smirk, but felt proud that their little girl was finally able to embrace herself and that they could talk about all of this openly.

“You two have fun then.”

“Why don’t you guys just date already? It’s all you ever talk about on the phone anyway.”

“Shut up Jack!” Claire punches her little brother’s arm resulting in a loud ‘ow’ from him.

“Okay okay.” Dean laughs, setting down his coffee cup on the counter. “I have to get going, I’ll see you guys later alright?” He points at the two kids eating breakfast. “Be good. Jack, you make sure you pay attention in class and to Kelly okay?”

“Fine.” Jack whines. Dean turns to Cas again to plant another kiss to his lips and another on his cheek. 

“Love you guys.” Everyone repeated their I love you’s and watched Dean leave the house. Claire took the last bite of her food then stood from the stool and took her plate to the sink, grabbing her backpack on the way.

“Have a good day.” Cas says as he leans over for Claire to kiss his cheek before she walks out. “Stay out of trouble!” He manages to get in before the front door is completely shut. Claire likes to take the bus to school so she can ride with Kaia, that leaves Jack getting rides from Cas to school. Sometimes it’s Dean, most of the time it’s Kelly. The shift schedules are a bit crazy sometimes. “Ready to go?” Jack nods and grabs his backpack from beside him. “Jack.”

“What?” They both stand there and stare at each other for a moment, Cas’s eyes shifting to the empty plate on the island. “Oh.” Jack reaches for the plate and walks over to place it in the sink.

“Thank you.” Cas ruffles the fluffy blonde hair on his son with a smile before he takes his last sip of coffee and places the mug in the sink, grabbing his keys and coat and heading out. “Remember, Aunt Kelly is picking you up afterschool.”

“Why can’t I stay home by myself? Claire gets to.” Cas chuckles, putting a hand on Jack’s shoulder.

“She’s older.” Jack lets out another whine and stomps out the front door. _Kids_.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Bobby prepared the firehouse’s breakfast for that morning, making sure they all had the same amount of everything. Buck and Chimney walk up the stairs, eyeing the food as if it was their last meal. Soon, they would be followed by Hen and Eddie along with the rest of the fire house. “Oh, God Bless you and your cooking skills Bobby.” Buck praises as he eats the food. 

“Eating breakfast without me again, Buck?” Dean says as he walks over the small bridge towards the table. Buck looks up at Dean and smiles earning a laugh from Dean. “Morning everyone.”

“Morning.” Bobby replies. “Kids make it to school okay?” He asks. Bobby was the only one who met Dean’s kids and boyfriend. Dean felt this safe vibe when he first met Bobby, and he’s trusted this man with his life. Literally on a few occasions.

“Yeah, Cas took Jack to school today so,” Dean takes a bite of his food. “Kelly’s gonna pick him up and Claire is going with a friend. They’ll be occupied for the afternoon.”

“Good, maybe you can pick up an extra shift.” He joked and Dean shakes his head with a smile.

“Trying to overwork me already, Cap?”

“Take one for the team Dee.” Eddie chimes in with a smug smile. “I would, but I got a kid at home.” Dean makes a fake offended expression, his hand flying to his chest in disbelief. 

“And I don’t?” Everyone chuckles, Buck nearly choking on his food. “Cold, Diaz. Real cold.” As usual, before anyone can finish their food, the bell goes off and everyone groans.

“See what happens when men bicker?” Hen shouts as she drops her food on the table. A playful smirk cracking at her gloss covered lips. Dean and Eddie mock her before everyone rushes downstairs and into the assigned places.

The team responded to a vehicle collision involving a car colliding with the house. It was intense, but unfortunately, not the craziest thing they’ve ever seen. Bobby huffed, trying to think quickly what could the plan be in order to make sure no one's life is lost today.

“Alright, Chim, Hen, check on the driver and make sure the car is stabilized. Eddie, go with them and disable the airbags.” All three firefighters nodded and headed out to their assigned places. “Dean, Buck, I need you guys to carefully check out the house for any residence. There’s probably a few gas lines that busted so take precaution.” 

“You got it Cap.” Buck says as he and Dean put on their gas masks. The boys head into the house, seeing gas leaking in the corner of what was the living room, the front of the car peaking through the wall. “LAFD is anyone in here?”

“Guys the car’s airbags are disabled and the car is secured.” Chimney says through the radio. “Drivers alive and pulse is steady, but she’s knocked out cold.”

“Can you get her out?” Bobby asks.

“Think so, might need the Jaws Cap.” Hen replies, a small grunt coming from her and she straps the driver on the board.

“How the hell do you crash into an entire house?” Buck asks Dean as they continue to walk carefully through the debris. “Wouldn’t you see it straight ahead?”

“She probably fell asleep, looked at her phone. Who knows man.” Dean’s eyes scan around the area, making sure all the places they checked were clear. “Wait.” Buck stops walking, watching Dean as he looks around and focusing. “Hear that?” There were soft groans coming from somewhere inside the house. It took Dean awhile to pinpoint exactly where the noise was coming from, but once he found it, the color from his face faded quickly and his heart started to beat faster. 

“Holy crap.” Buck says before they both rush to where the car was lodged, moving pieces of the wall and the ceiling. “It’s a kid.”

“That means we better hurry,” Dean pauses for a moment to speak into his radio. “Cap, there’s a kid underneath the car. No older than 7, he’s pinned pretty good.” Bobby cursed under his breath.

“Hey, hey buddy.” Buck says once the little boy opened his eyes. “Hey, we’re gonna get you out of here okay?” The two men looked at each other, uncertainty swimming in their colored eyes. From the other side of the wall, the Jaws were heard cutting the car. Seconds went by and the kid started to cry out in pain making Buck jump up and run to the other side. “Guys guys! Stop!” Eddie stopped and looked up, worried and confused written all over his face. “You can’t cut the car.”

“Buck, we need to get her out.” Hen protests.

“No, the front of the car is inside the wall. Cutting it is putting more weight to the front and it’s crushing the kid.” 

“If we break the wall, the whole house will collapse.” Chimney says, noticing that this wall is the only thing keeping the front of the house standing.

“Pushing it up is also risky.” Dean chimes in from the radio. He would yell, but he didn’t want to scare the kid. “If we lift the car, it pushes the wall into the ceiling which could also cause everything to collapse on top of us.”

“Am I gonna…” The boy started to speak and Dean looked down at him softly. “Am I gonna die?” Dean felt his heart stop, going back to the time Jack cut his head open and saw all the blood and he asked the same question.

“No, me and my friends are gonna get you out of here okay?” Dean’s voice was muffled because of the mask. He takes off his helmet first, placing it on the ground and removing his mask to put it on the little boy. “Here, this is gonna help you breathe better.” He carefully lifts the boy's head to put the mask on him. “No more funky smell.” Dean gave a soft smile and the boy nodded as he took a deep breath. “Running out of time here y’all.” He tries to whisper into the radio.

“What if we tried removing the car? We could get something else to replace the weight so the wall won’t fall.” Eddie offers.

“What would we use? Not like we can’t put another car here.” Hen says, frustration growing as each second passes. “Look, guys, the driver isn’t gonna last just being in here.”

“The kid won’t either if we cut the car.” Eddie argues. Calls like these were always the toughest. Not knowing who will survive, having to be the one to choose which life to save...none of it was ever easy.

“Lift the car.” Dean says. Buck furrows his eyebrows and walks back over to Dean. “Lift the car, I can try and pull this kid out as fast as I can, then you can use the jaws to cut the driver out.” Buck looked back at everyone else, they had no protests on it.

“How fast can you be?” Buck asks.

“That all depends on you.” Dean starts taking off his fireman jacket and using it as a blanket for the kid. Buck sighed and told Bobby the plan as he ran to the truck to get more tools. “What’s your name kiddo?”

“Andy.” He replies, voice weak and eyes getting heavy.

“Andy, okay. Keep talking to me buddy, do you have any siblings?” Andy nods slowly as he tries his hardest to keep his eyes open.

“A big sister.”

“Yeah? What’s her name?” 

“Samantha...but I call her Sammy.” Dean smiles again, his little brother coming to mind when he nears the name. He makes sure Andy is covered well, and that he’d be safe from getting any debris on him.

“I have a little brother named Sammy too.” Andy looks at Dean, eyes getting heavy again. “But, hey,” He taps on Andy’s shoulder softly. “Tell you what, you stay awake and by the end of the day, we both can go back to our Sammy’s. Sound like a deal?” The boy just nods and Dean sighs, silently praying this kid and the driver both make it out alive. 

“Dean.” Eddie and Buck showed up with two big floor jacks. He nodded, looking back down at the kid who stared wide eyed.

“Okay Andy, I’m gonna be right behind you.” Dean shifted himself to be behind Andy’s head. “These are my friends Buck and Eddie, they’re gonna lift the car and I’m gonna pull you out okay?”

“Okay.” All three firemen looked at one another briefly, Eddie and Buck getting straight to work with the floor jacks.

“Chimney, when the car lifts, you start up with the jaws.” Bobby says into the radio. 

“Copy that.”

“Okay, you ready kiddo?” Andy nods and the guys start to lift the car and the sound of the jaws fills the intense silence. Dean waits a few seconds, making sure the car is lifted entirely off of the boy before he pulls him out. The hood of the car started pressing upwards into the wall, causing cracks to spread through it and small pieces falling to the floor. “C’mon.” Dean says quietly. The car still wasn’t high enough. More cracks began to spread and the roof started to break. “C’mon.” 

“Driver’s out!” Hen yells.

“Just a little more.” Dean was doing everything in his head. Calculating the correct height the car needed to be at, how long they’d have before the wall and roof would collapse, how much air they’d have left if they even made it out on time.

“It’s all the way.” Eddie says, looking up at the roof where the cracks started to spread very fast.

“His ankle is still pinned.” Dean pleads. Not much time was left and he was not about to leave this kid alone.

“Eddie, the rebar!” Buck shouts and Eddie turns around to grab the object. This is their last attempt to get the kid out alive. For any of them to get out alive. “Ready?” Eddie nods and Buck helps him jam the rod underneath the fender and it lifts the car the little more Dean needed to yank Andy out.

“I got ‘em!” Dean shouts and the guys drop the car, running out the front to get a board. 

“Dee, I’m on my wa- fuck!” Buck screams as he watches the front of the house collapse onto the car and onto the ground.

“Firefighter Winchester, this is Captain Nash do you copy?” Everyone was silent, watching the scene before them in horror. “Firefighter Winchester, do you copy?” More silence, the neighborhood joining in to see the wreck and recording everything. The 118 waiting to see if Dean would respond, or if they had to drag two bodies out of there.

“I hope Andy’s parents have good insurance.” Dean finally responds as he walks out from the side of the house, carrying Andy in his arms. The crowd began to clap, Hen and Chimney running to grab the boy and check on their friend.

“I’m tired of you macho white boys.” Hen says as he hooks her arm through Dean’s, practically dragging him to the ambulance to get checked out.

“I love you too Henrietta.” He laughs, waving at the rest of the team and they looked at him with relief and like they wanted to throw something at him. “Don’t tell my boyfriend about this. I only need one lecture today.”

“Well, good luck cause you might have a concussion.” Dean groaned knowing where he’d be going. “Did you not expect to have anything after a damn house fell on you?” A small chuckle left Dean’s lips and Hen rolled her eyes and smiled. “You’re alive, that’s what matters.” He nodded, sitting on the edge of the ambulance as Hen started to check his breathing and hooking him up to oxygen.

His mind went immediately to his family, how much it would have hurt if he hadn’t come home today. Jack was so young, he didn’t need that sort of pain. Claire had just started to become comfortable with herself, and Cas...he couldn’t leave Cas. Not after everything they had been through. So, yeah, he was lucky to be alive. Dean got lucky, like _angels were watching over him._

“You alright?” Bobby comes up to ask after he settled the chaos around them.

“Yeah.” Dean says through the oxygen mask. Bobby had that father-y look on his face, he was about to be lectured.

“You know what I’m about to say don’t you?” Dean removed the oxygen mask with a sarcastic smile.

“I have a family.”

“Well, not exactly.” Bobby corrects. “Just be faster next time.” Bobby offers a smirk and a pat on the shoulder which left Dean extremely confused. “Alright let’s head out!” 

“C’mon superman, in you go.” Chimney teases as he steps up into the ambulance with Dean.

“Speak for yourself.”

“Haha.” Chimney says sarcastically. It’s still so baffling to Dean how much safer he feels being around this group of people. How much more at home LA feels to him. “Mind if I stick around to see your boyfriend yell at you?” 

“Shut up Chimney.” They both laugh and sit in a comfortable silence on their way to the hospital.

* * *

Cas rushed through the halls of the hospital, hearing that a firefighter from the 118 was brought in. “Excuse me, sorry.” Cas carefully pushes through the nurses and other doctors before his blue eyes catch a glimpse of a nurse checking on a dirty, slightly cut up firefighter in one of the rooms. He sighed, seeing that Dean was still in pretty good shape. “S’cuse me, I got it from here Danny.” Dean’s eyes widen at the sound of Cas speaking.

“You sure?” The nice nurse asks, Cas nods and offers a tight smile before she finally agrees and leaves the two men in the room. He shuts the door and slowly turns towards his boyfriend sitting on the hospital bed.

“Cas…”

“Are you out of your mind?” Cas whispers harshly. Dean wants to attempt to stand up, but also doesn’t want to make matters worse — so he puts his hands up instead. “And if you hadn’t moved out of the way in time?”

“He was a kid, Cas. I wasn’t gonna leave him alone.” Cas wants to be selfish, wants to argue that Dean should have been thinking about himself, but understands the sacrifice. “I thought of Jack.” Dean says quietly. He really didn’t want to cry, but the look in that poor boy's eyes was gonna stick with him for a while. “Remember? When Jack split his head open and he asked if he was gonna die?”

“Yeah.” 

“This kid...Andy, he looked at me the same way. The _exact_ same way. I couldn’t leave him. Not like that.” Dean’s bottom lip quivered and Cas stepped forward, holding out his hand for his boyfriend to take.

“I should’ve known.” His thumb runs across Dean’s knuckles. “You’ve always had a soft spot for kids.”

“Someone’s gotta.” Cas let’s his other hand run through Dean’s dusty and dirty hair before he cupped his face, making their eyes connect. “I hope you don’t plan on kissing me. I probably taste like...house.” They both laugh, Cas let go of Dean’s face to press his two fingers to his lips and onto the man sitting in front of him.

“Let’s get you checked up and then back home then.”


	2. Just Like Kansas

“Dean.” Eddie says. Dean looks down at the floor to see Eddie with a clean rag.

“Thank you.” He says as Eddie tosses the rag up to him. Turns out Dean didn’t have a concussion from last week's call, just some cuts and bruises and a little bit of dirt in places he didn’t appreciate.

Buck and Hen eventually walked in, dragging their feet and huffing out air. “It is too damn hot today.” Hen complains, everyone agreeing with her and Dean just chuckles.

“Are...are you cleaning?” Buck asks, shocked at how quickly Dean was moving. “How?”

“I’m from Kansas, y’all. I’m immune to this type of weather.” Bobby watched from the dining room, a smile on his face as he saw the disbelief on everyone’s face. 

“Guys,” Bobby speaks and everyone turns to him. “Come on, we’re down a firefighter today.” Dean resumes his task while everyone looks at their captain confused. “Maddie’s having a rough day with the pregnancy so Chim is staying home to help out.” Buck had this worried look on his face, of course Maddie had told him earlier that morning, but he was worried nonetheless. “She’s fine, Buck. Just a rough day.” Bobby offers a smile and Buck forces his before he walks off to the locker room to change. 

“Uh oh.” Dean speaks, cleaning his hands on the rag he had. Eddie goes and follows Buck, saying he wanted to make sure he was okay and Hen looks up at Dean knowingly. “Read the room, Wilson.” He laughs, earning a chuckle from her.

“We all see it. It’s right there.” 

“Go away.” Dean throws the rag at her feet, laughing. 

* * *

Maddie is laying on the couch, of course not all the way. There’s a cushion behind her to keep her body elevated and Chimney was watching her every second to make sure she needed him. The TV was on some random cooking show that she was highly interested in. “We should try making one of those.” Maddie says as she watches the chef make a variety of salads. “They all look so good.”

“No offence, Maddie, but the last time I tried to cook I nearly burned down a building that’s supposed to  _ stop  _ fires.” She laughs at his defense, quickly flinching her hands to her large belly and her mouth falls open. “What? Are you okay?” Chimney changes his tone and he quickly turns his body to face Maddie.

“Give me your hand.” She says simply. He complies, offering Maddie his hand and she takes it to place it on her belly. A moment passed before they felt a small kick against the center of their palms. “Did you feel that?” Chim begins to smile, and he smiles hard. Tears brim the edges of his eyelids.

“Oh my god.” He whispers, scooting his body closer to his girlfriend. “That’s our baby.” Maddie nods and goes to place her hand over his, giving it a light squeeze. “We did this.”

“We did.” Chimney moves his other arm on the headrest of his couch, steadying his weight there so he could lean in to give Maddie a sweet kiss.

“Wow.” He looks down at her belly, feeling the baby move around once more.

“I would enjoy this moment more if my back wasn’t hurting so much.” Maddie jokes, shifting uncomfortably on the couch making Chimney back off a bit.

“Do you need anything?” 

“Just...to lay down. Hand me that pillow.” Chim often forgets that Maddie was a nurse at one point, he’s being paranoid but she knows what she’s doing.

He hands her the pillow and watches her as she sets it up behind her back along with the first pillow that was already there. “Can you make some tea?” Maddie asks, giving her boyfriend her sweet smile which he couldn’t resist. Chimney leans down to give her a quick peck before he walks over to the kitchen to make his lady her tea.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Dean and Eddie had just finished putting out a house fire two blocks from the station. The calls were pretty light today despite the incredibly hot weather, but it isn’t a day of work unless Buck is complaining about the heat.

“C’mon, do we  _ have  _ to be out this long?” Bobby chuckles at Buck’s whines.

“Hey, how do you expect to pay for your air conditioning in that fancy apartment of yours Bucko.” Dean says as he takes off his gear and puts it inside the truck.

“Is it really this hot in Kansas?” 

“No hotter than Texas.” Eddie buds in, a cocky smile spread on his face.

“Ooh, the ego is high with this one.” Dean replies, playfully punching Eddie’s shoulder, Buck suddenly feeling left out of this conversation. Hen takes notice and she smiles knowingly, not wanting to point it out or say a word. “Funny story, my pops back home is named Bobby. You can only imagine the big mind-fuck I had when I first came here.” Buck smiles. Dean rarely told stories of his life back home; how he even got himself in LA, so opening up every now and then he was beyond excited to hear about it.

“Wait, really?” Dean nods and climbs into the truck. “Did he cook for you too?” Dean laughs and shrugs.

“Growing up, we didn’t really have much. But Bobby did his best for me and my little brother. I’m grateful for that old man every day.” Buck climbs into the truck, sitting in the seat across from Dean.

“He seems cool.”

“He’s...something.” Dean chuckles at the thought of him and his brother’s lifestyle growing up. “Guess you can say he is cool.” Buck smiles as he notices the look on Dean’s face. It was the same look Eddie has when he talks about Christopher. “One day I’ll convince him to come up here.”

“Old man never been to Los Angeles?” Eddie asks as he hops in the truck along with Hen and Bobby in the captains seat.

“Sure he has, when he wasn’t so old and brittle.” Dean laughs.

“What’s wrong with that?” Bobby squints jokingly. 

“Oh no, not you Cap. You’re as fine as ever!” Everyone laughs at Dean’s praise as they ride back to the station.

“That reminds me,” Buck starts off, which quite honestly made Dean nervous. Dean loves his family, loves the way things have turned out and the people he’s met along the way, but he wasn’t sure he was open enough to anything other than stories. “No one in this truck has met your family other than Bobby.” There it is.

Eddie turns towards the window and Hen sort of freezes. Bobby, however, looks directly at Dean. The green eyes focusing on his blue ones pleading for help. “Well, y’know. Kids got school, Cas is working almost the same hours as me. Never occurred to me you wanted to meet them, kid.” Dean answers honestly...sort of. Truth was, he was scared to let more people into his life like this. He wasn't used to such a big group around him, let alone a family of his own, it was always just him and Sam and Bobby Singer. Sure they met a couple friends back home too, but Dean couldn’t help that fear of abandonment. It’s the last thing he wants his kids to go through.

“Always the job.” Buck sighs, leaning back into his seat. Dean nods in agreement as he silently wishes his head would stop spinning. He just needed to see Cas. 

“Tell you what though, on a good day — when no one’s working, we can get together.” Dean offers and everyone turns to him.

“You’re telling me I can see Dean being a dad? No way.” Hen exaggerates making him chuckle and gently touch her arm. Buck had this exciting expression on his face; kind of like how his son made when he hears the fridge being opened.

“How many?” Eddie asks.

“Two. My daughter is 17, my son is 12.” Eddie smiled gratefully. Finally someone close to him has a kid Chris’s age. Someone he knows he can trust.

“Your kids are going to love us, don’t you worry.” Buck says with a slightly smug smile. Dean’s eyes widened.

“Well when you say it like…” The squad laughs and Bobby just shakes his head. Dean started to feel a little relief, maybe he was just overthinking things. 

The rest of the way they rode back in silence. Dean goes over the scene of his friends meeting his family over and over again. Meanwhile, Buck was planning something of his own that he may need a little bit of help on.

  
  


* * *

  
  


When at the station, Dean asked for the rest of the day off so he had the chance to pick the kids up from school and take Cas some late lunch.

He drove to Jack’s school first, seeing him walk out the front doors with a couple of his friends. He was laughing and smiling before he spotted Dean’s truck. “Dad!” He yells as he completely erases the thought of saying goodbye to his friends to run into his dad’s arms. “I didn’t know you were here.”

“Agh, it’s a surprise kiddo.” Dean chuckles and kisses his boy’s head. “D’your sister make any plans after school today?” He asks as they get into Dean’s truck.

“No, but I’m sure she’s gonna be surprised to see you.”

“That’s right, give me five.” Dean holds his hand out to the back seats, waiting for Jack to give his high five. “Alright let’s go pick up your sister then go pay your dad a little visit.”

“Yay!” It was silent for a moment before Jack started telling Dean about his day, and dare he admit, this kid lives a crazy life on the playground.

The two drove into Claire’s school’s parking lot, their green and blue eyes searching the entire place for her when they noticed she was with a group of friends and Kaia...holding her hand. Dean and Jack both looked at each other with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. “Finally.” They said in unison watching Claire until she noticed her dad’s truck. Dean chuckles and steps out of his truck to greet his daughter.

“Hey honey.” Dean says, giving Claire a hug and a kiss on her head.

“You saw that, didn’t you?” She asks shyly.

“Yep, but you know what?” Dean softly grabs his daughter’s shoulder, moving his head down so his eyes meet hers. “I’m proud of you.” He says simply. “And I love you, but you already know that.” Claire chuckles. Her dad was never one to have a sincere moment without cracking a joke. “Plus, I think your brother is finally happy you did something.” She looks in the truck to see Jack sitting in the back with the biggest smile on his little face and Claire rolls her eyes with a smile.

“Thanks dad.”

“Always, now get in. We’re gonna bother the other parent.” Dean winks and Claire laughs again, getting into the truck.

* * *

  
  


“Alexandra!” Dean shouts, ignoring the staring faces. Alex looks up from her desk with disgust as she saw Dean walk in with Claire and Jack close behind.

“You’re pushing your luck with me old man.” She spat jokingly. “Hi guys.” She says nicely to Claire and Jack. “Here to bother Cas I presume.”

“Know me so well. He in?” Alex nods and stands from her place to lead the family to Cas’s office.

“Hey Cas? Some losers are here to see you.”

“You’re a loser.” Jack argues, furrowing his eyebrows which made Cas laugh. “Hi dad.” He says a second after, squeezing into the office to hug Cas.

“Hi my love.” Cas leans down to hug his son, coming back up to hug Claire. “Hey honey.” Cas looks over to Dean seeing him and Alex pinching each other. “If he asks, you’re both my favorite children.” Cas whispers to them, making both kids laugh. “Hey, Dean?”

“Ow! That one was hard!” Dean cries.

“You started it!” Alex defends. Both of them look at Cas innocently, his ‘dad’ look up and ready and Alex retreats faster than Dean in a burning building.

“She started it.” 

“Sure.” Cas says, huffing out a laugh and stepping forward to kiss his boyfriend hello. “What’s this?” He grabs the brown paper bag from Dean’s hands to open it and look inside.

“Late lunch, I got the rest of the day off so me and the kiddos thought we’d stop by and say hello.” Dean smiles and leans in to kiss Cas again, forgetting his kids were even there.

“Get a room guys.” Claire complains and Dean pulls away to open his mouth and Cas is quick to cover it, remembering his response from the time Sam said the same thing.

“Sorry.” Cas forces a smile. “How about some food huh?” Dean evil chuckles as they both walk to the desk and Cas sets the food out.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Buck smiles as he reads through the messages on his phone. He practically runs up the stairs to the rest of the squad, seeing them having a conversation. “Hey guys.” Hen and Eddie turn first, Bobby busy washing the dishes.

“You’re cheery.” Hen comments suspiciously. “I don’t like it.”

“I,” Buck waves his phone in the air. “Found out when Dean’s birthday is.”

“Should we even know how you got that information?” Eddie asks, not surprised. 

“Relax, it’s legal. Anyway, it’s coming up. I was thinking we could...throw him a birthday party?” Buck shrugs his shoulders as he looks at Hen who was always the party planner. “I mean come on, the guy’s been here for two years and we never celebrated his birthday?”

“Buck, as lovely as that sounds...there’s probably a reason he doesn’t celebrate it.” Bobby says, but he knew Buck wasn’t going to listen.

“Then let’s give him a reason to celebrate, it’s what we do right?” Everyone looks at each other, realizing that Buck was actually right. He smiles already knowing their answers. “Let’s get to work then!”


	3. Secrets Secrets and More Secrets

Hen, Eddie and Buck were being extremely secretive the next morning, every so often asking Dean odd questions like what his favorite flavor of cake was, or where his family is. Bobby and Chimney seemed fine. They were the only two Dean could have a decent conversation with. “Do I even want to know what they're up to?” Chimney asked as he saw Hen and Buck whispering by the ambulance.

“I sure as hell would like to know.” Dean adds, turning towards Bobby. “Do you know?” The captain shook his head and carried on cooking breakfast. Dean raised a brow at Bobby’s silence. It was odd, this whole place was being odd. He opened his mouth to push on the subject, but his phone rang.  _ Talk about “Saved by the bell”. _ “Hello? Hey, Sam,” Dean smiled and stood up to walk towards the arcade game for some privacy. “What?!” He shouted on accident. The entire room looked at him, worried and curious what was being said on the other line. “Are you sure? Wow...t-that’s amazing Sammy. I’m happy for both of you. You take care of her alright? Tell Eileen I say hello. I’ll see you soon then, hey, congrats. Alright.” Dean hung up the phone and felt like skipping back to his place at the kitchen, but he stood there for a moment as the news dawned on him. Overwhelming sensation of joy flooded him and tears were brought to his green eyes.

“Dean?” Bobby asks, walking up behind the firefighter. “Everything okay?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah — yeah everything’s…” He sighed in happiness, blinking away more tears. “My brother called me to tell me that I’m going to be an uncle.” Bobby raised his eyebrows and smiled, a hand going to Dean’s shoulder to give it a squeeze.

“Congratulations.” Dean couldn't form words, he couldn’t even pinpoint what emotion he was feeling right now, so he just nodded and sighed. He turned to hug Bobby out of instinct and the rest of the firehouse watched them out of context wondering if something bad had happened. “You’re gonna be a great uncle.” They broke the hug and Dean let out an airy laugh.

“I’d hope so,” Dean sniffles and wipes his hands down his face trying to regain his composure. “I gotta call Cas.” Bobby leaves him to do that, walking back to the kitchen where Chimney was seated, picking at the food that was cooked.

“Dean okay?”

“His brother and sister-in-law are expecting.” Bobby says with a proud smile and Chimney mouths a ‘wow’.

“More babies huh?”

“Looks like, how’s Maddie doing?” Chim shrugs and smiles, masking his worry and fear of becoming a father for the first time.

“She’s a lot stronger and a lot more prepared than I am, that’s for sure.” He let out a huff, leaving Bobby nothing to offer but a simple smile and a few words of encouragement. “Hey, there’s Uncle Dee.” Chimney changes the subject, bringing a smile to his face to hide his own worries.

“Ha! Yeah I...I guess that’s who I am now.” Dean was so proud and so happy, he completely blocked out the suspicious behavior from his friends. Eventually, the bell rang for a call and the entire house got their respected places and headed out to the call.

* * *

  
  


Sam hung up the phone with his father, Bobby Singer, a big smile on his face with a few tears flooding his green eyes. Standing there for a moment to let his mind get a glimpse of what his future was going to look like with his first child and his beautiful wife, nearly forgetting he needed to get ready for work. “Crap.” He hissed, jogging up the stairs of his home and quickly getting dressed into his suit and washing his face.

“Maybe you should just stay home today.” Eileen said suddenly, leaning against the door frame of their shared bedroom. Sam smiled and shook his head.

“Can’t, I’ve got to help Dominick with his case.” Sam signed to her. Eileen nodded and signed back ‘good luck’. “Thank you.” He says, finishing on his tie and grabbing his briefcase to head out.

“I’m cooking your favorite for dinner.” She says as she walks her husband down the stairs and Sam sighs happily.

“Ooh I love your spaghetti.” He says with a smile, leaning down to plant a sweet kiss to Eileen’s lips. “Take care, I love you.” He signs. “Both of you.” Sam blows a kiss as he walks out the door and into his car. For a moment, Eileen stands at the door to watch Sam drive off. Her hand gently graced her stomach, the pad of her thumb rubbing just above her belly button as a faint smile started to grow across her lips. She too, would have to be getting ready for work too since she only asked for the morning off. 

Though, she would have to admit she was bummed. Eileen lost her parents a long time ago, she didn’t have any blood family. Sam doesn’t really have much family other than his brother, foster father and his niece and nephew. Plus she feared that her baby could be born without the ability to hear like Eileen was. But that was her little secret to keep, she couldn’t make Sam worry too with how excited he was.

* * *

  
  


Alex had noticed Cas had been on his phone most of the day during his shift. She noticed him smile a few times and she assumed it would be Dean, but with the amount of patients they had today — it would be kind of hard for Dean to be available like that. 

During her break she decided to follow Cas to his car to try and catch what he had been up to and if his boyfriend was going to need a heads up. 

As Cas was about to open the drivers side door, Alex popped up from behind. “Something funny happening?” She asks, causing Cas to jump out of his skin and lean on his car with his hand to his chest.

“Christ, Alex.” She wanted to laugh, but she wanted to know what her friend’s deal was. “What are you doing here?”

“Wondering why you’ve been smiling at your phone all day, and if it’s something I should tell Dean.” Cas looked mortified at her assumption.

“You know I would never.” Cas defends.

“So? Spill your guts Novak, what are you doing?” Cas sighed and dropped his hands to his side in defeat. 

“Alright, Buck — Dean’s friend, texted me last night to find out when his birthday was. Him and the rest of the crew want to throw Dean a surprise party.” Cas seemed to be really into this idea, and looked like he really wanted this all to work out. “Please don’t tell Dean.”

“I won’t...but, are you sure this is all a good idea?”

“I know,” Cas stood up straight, stuffing his phone in his pocket. “I know he doesn’t like his birthday, but you know I thought...we have this family. The firehouse, the kids, you, Sam and Eileen — I believe this time could be different.” Cas was sincere with his words, genuinely wanting to help his boyfriend get out of his birthday rut and let him know that this life wasn’t like the one Dean grew up in.

Alex nodded slowly, crossing her arms over her chest. “Okay...have you at least talked about his birthday?”

“No, I don't know how I’d even bring up the subject. Jesus, it’s been two years since I brought the day up.” Cas let out a nervous chuckle, leaning against his car again. Alex stood and thought; she wanted to help and be apart of this too, Dean was her friend and she’d be damned if she wasn’t apart of this whole thing.

“I want in.” She says suddenly. Cas furrows his eyebrows at her statement. “What? He’s my friend too, Cas. I’ll help you; matter of fact, I’ll be the one to bring up his birthday tonight over dinner.” 

“You’re really going to sacrifice yourself like that?” Cas asks jokingly, but grateful. Alex shrugs and smiles. “Thank you Alex, I owe you.”

“How about you buy me lunch?” Alex smirks and makes her way around Cas’ jeep, not giving him much of a choice in the matter.

“Of course.” He laughs.

* * *

The rest of the day went by pretty slow, Cas did a few check ups on patients who previously went in for either broken bones or some sickness, Dean and the team responded to a few heartattack calls and a few other weird ones they joked about when they got back. Sam finished up his case with his coworker and went home to Eileen already cooking in the kitchen after she, herself, got home after teaching all afternoon. 

Now, their shifts were done and it was time to go home. Which also meant it’s time for a very interesting dinner for the Novak-Winchester household. “You ready for fun?” Alex asks sarcastically, parting away from Cas in the parking lot.

“Not when you say it like that.” Cas laughs stopping in front of his car. “I just hope it all goes okay.” He said honestly, fidgeting with his keys between his fingers.

“It will. I mean, it has to, right? Times have changed Cas, he’s happier than he ever was.” Alex says. “At least that’s what my moms say.” Cas smiles and huffs out an airy chuckle.

“Yeah he...definitely is.” He sighs in defeat knowing he couldn’t hide his fear of everything going wrong. “I’m just worried about him.”

“I know, but it’ll be fine. If he’s yelling at anyone tonight, it’ll be me.” Alex reassures. “But, I’d like to see him try yelling at me.” She jokes to cheer up her friend. Cas smiles and turns to open his jeep.

“I’ll see you at the house, drive safe.” Alex nods Cas off and they both make their way to the Winchester home.

Cas got home, trying to ease his nerves to not make it so obvious. He took deep and slow breaths in and out before he got off his jeep and headed towards the front door only for Jack to beat him to the punch. “Dad.” The little boy says formally. Cas raised an eyebrow and chuckled.

“Son.” He says back with the same tone. Claire eventually followed, proper posture with a black suit on and a white cloth draping her arm. “What’s all this?”

“Father has formally invited you and a Alex Jones for a candle lit dinner for five.” Jack says, bowing then offering his tiny hand out for his dad. “Follow me Mr...dad.” Cas laughs and takes his son's hand, allowing Jack to lead him towards the dinning room where the table was set. Five plates filled with Dean’s famous pasta and three glasses filled with wine and and the rest filled with soda for the kids.

“Welcome home sweetheart.” Dean greets with a wide smile and a quick peck on the lips. “Alexandra, so glad you could make it.” He says as she walks in arm in arm with Claire.

“Jeez, if I knew this was going to be a five star restaurant I would have worn something nicer.” Alex complains, making everyone laugh.

“Hey I’m still in my work clothes.” Cas argues.

“Yeah yeah, everyone looks great. C’mon let’s eat.” Everyone chose a seat at the table and started eating and making small talk every so often. “How is it y’all?” Dean asks.

“Can I live with you guys?” Alex asks with her mouth full. Dean laughs with his mouth also full. A few more moments pass in silence and small talk, a couple of laughs every now and then. Cas and Alex make direct eye contact at some point and he nods at her to start the serious conversation. “Dean, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure, what’s the question?” Everyone stares at the girl, waiting for her response as she suddenly grows nervous. Of course Alex doesn’t want to pry, but it was the only way to know if the surprise birthday was a good idea or not.

“What do you want for your birthday, since I can actually buy you something this year.” She managed to say casually. Dean tensed up, looking at Cas for a moment. Claire and Jack stopped eating as they felt the energy in the room kind of shift.

“Uh,” Dean struggles to find his words this time. “You don’t...you don’t have to, I mean, I don’t-“

“C’mon, it’ll be fun! How about me and Cas take you out somewhere?” Alex starts to offer, planning in her head how she could get Dean to the firehouse without raising suspicion.

“Alex, I-I really don’t celebrate my birthday.” She looks at Cas for help but he didn’t want to join the conversation just in case it would raise some questions. 

“Why not?” Jack asks, curious. The air suddenly seemed to get thinner. 

“It’s, uh, s’not my favorite day kiddo.” Cas grabs Dean’s hand, catching his green eyes in his blue ones. Sincerity flooded them before he spoke.

“Nothing is like before Dean. You have a new family, a good one.” His thumb ran over Dean’s rough knuckles in comfort. “Let us celebrate your day, together.” Dean searches Cas’s; looking for some sign, any sign, to show that this was all some sick joke...but he knows Cas could never lie to him. Not about something like this.

“I hate when you give me that look.” Dean breaks the serious tone with a lighthearted insult. “Fine, you guys can do whatever you want with me on my birthday.” The whole table claps and suddenly Dean could breathe again. He looked at his boyfriend as he brought their hands up and kissed each knuckle on his hand. “You guys aren’t planning to murder me are you?” Cas laughs and shakes his head.

“Never in a million years, my love.” 

Everyone continued to eat their meals and talk about their days, telling stories of the weird shifts they would handle sometimes and Jack asking so many questions because of his curious little brain. But at the back of Dean’s mind was him celebrating his birthday for the first time in a long time. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little bit scared. His birthday was never this important before, and for everyone to suddenly bring it up now definitely raised some questions, but he was grateful for their random excitement nonetheless. He was putting his trust in his family as he always did, on the job and off, he was ready for whatever they were about to throw at him…at least he hoped so.


End file.
